About HostingPrimer
HostingPrimer is a plain-English reference for people trying to understand web hosting before they buy it. We explain; we do not rank, score or sell.
HostingPrimer exists to answer one kind of question clearly: what does this hosting word mean, and do I actually need it? Web hosting is a simple idea wrapped in decades of jargon and sales copy, and most sites that explain it are really trying to sell it. We took the opposite approach — a calm, honest reference that defines each concept, follows how a request actually reaches a hosted site, and hands you back to a decision better informed than you arrived.
What we cover — and what we don't
We cover pure web hosting: the server, the control panel, bandwidth and storage, SSL, DNS, and the hosting types from shared to dedicated. We deliberately do not review website builders like Wix or Squarespace — those are a different product that happens to include hosting, and treating them as hosting only confuses beginners. Where a builder and hosting might be mistaken for each other, we draw the line and move on. We are also not a rankings site: we will point a beginner toward a sensible starting host, but we do not publish scored league tables of who is "best."
How we keep it accurate
Accuracy is the whole product here, so every definition is checked against how the technology actually works, and every price is given as a dated range rather than a precise figure, because hosting pricing changes constantly and is specific to region and term. Prices on this site were read in September 2026 and are framed as advertised — always verify current pricing before you buy. We never claim to have run speed tests or measured uptime we did not test; where numbers come from published specifications or third parties, we say so.
How the site is funded
Most pages on HostingPrimer link to nothing but each other. A small number point beginners toward a few well-known starter hosts, and those links are affiliate links: if you sign up through one, the company may pay us a commission at no cost to you. That funding never changes what we write — the explanations would read exactly the same with no affiliate links at all. The full details are in our affiliate disclosure.